One man’s shared love of nature with his late wife, the brainstorming of a local police officer, and the elbow grease of a local Boy Scout have merged together to achieve a vision all three were seeking.

Before this spring, Larry Fobare, James Standal and Eric Niezabytowski had little in common.

But, by the end of the summer, each had a role in helping construct an observation deck to view a bald eagle’s nest at Stony Creek Metropark that will help park visitors enjoy the first bald eagle family ever to produce offspring in the park. A bald eagle pair produced a female eaglet that was born in April and fledged in early July. Research determined that the young eaglet was not only the first bald eagle born in the history of the park (opened in 1964), but also the first eagle born on what is now the metropark property in at least 100 years.

The observation deck is located in the Inwood Trails network, off of Inwood Road between Mount Vernon Road and Mound Road north of 29 Mile Road. It provides a straight line view of not only the eagle’s nest (with binoculars or a telescope) but also an osprey nest located on a cellphone tower on the North Macomb Sportsman’s Club’s adjacent property to the west.

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In May, when the young eagle was only a few weeks old, Niezabytowski, 14, a Boy Scout who lives in Rochester Hills, was in need of an Eagle Scout project. He contacted Mark Szabo at the Stony Creek Nature Center and offered his services for any type of construction project the metropark might need.

Szabo, a longtime Stony Creek interpreter, couldn’t think of anything right away, but told the young Scout he would get back to him.

About the same time, Fobare, of Sterling Heights, still grieving the loss of his wife, Annette, to cancer less than a year before, approached Szabo because he wanted to do something significant at the park to honor his wife’s memory, but didn’t know quite how to do it. The Fobares were frequent Stony Creek visitors for many years and often enjoyed the majestic beauty of the park’s trails systems, including the Inwood Trails. Fobare’s wife particularly liked the Osprey Trail, located just off the park road leading to the nature center north of 28 Mile Road. In fact, with special park approval, the Fobares celebrated their 29th anniversary with a catered dinner along the trail in May 2012. It would be their last anniversary together as Annette, 51, passed away four months later.

As Szabo brainstormed for an idea for Niezabytowski, he remembered a conversation he had with metroparks’ police officer James Standal shortly after the eaglet was born in April. Standal told Szabo it would be nice if there was a platform people could use to view the eagle’s nest but would still be far enough away that they wouldn’t disturb its inhabitants. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 220 yards — 1/8 of a mile — is the absolute closest distance allowed to view a bald eagle nest. The recommended viewing distance from both the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and the USFWS is 440 yards, or ¼ of a mile. Violations of the Bald Eagle Protection Act typically carry a $5,000 fine. The platform is roughly a little more than ¼ mile away from the nest.

Szabo told Fobare that perhaps an eagle’s nest observation deck would make a nice tribute to his wife. At that time, Fobare knew nothing about the eagle, which was only a few months old, or the nest. But he loved the idea.

“I told him, ‘Let’s do it,’” Fobare said.

As fate would have it, Fobare, employed at Chrysler headquarters in Auburn Hills, had a hallway conversation with Frank Niezabytowski, an acquaintance and fellow employee at Chrysler. Fobare told Niezabytowski about his hopes to build an observation deck at the park but needed someone, perhaps a Boy Scout, to do the work. Niezabytowski, just happened to have a son, Eric, a member of Troop 188 in Rochester Hills, who was in need of an Eagle Scout project.

And so a marriage of fate and opportunity was born. And a very special young eagle would be the impetus for an Eagle Scout project. An eagle for an eagle.

With the help of a local Home Depot store, Eric, a Stony Creek High School student, went to work. The store helped with the design of the deck, which the park required be handicap-accessible, and donated a rental truck to haul materials to the site. Eric held a fundraiser at the Paint Creek Cider Mill in Oakland Township and used stories about the eagle published in The Macomb Daily to attract people to his booth. Frank Niezabytowski said most had never even heard about the eagle’s presence in the park but were thrilled to find out about it and offered donations. The fundraiser at the cider mill and other efforts netted Eric around $500, along with donated concrete and bolts. Fobare offered to cover the cost of whatever else was required and ultimately paid $540 out of his own pocket.

The weekend of Aug. 24-25, Eric and 27 volunteers put in more than 20 hours of sweat equity building the deck. As they worked, both mornings the young eagle would soar high above the construction site.

“We saw the young eagle. It was flying around, circling around,” Frank said. “One of the birdwatchers came out and had a telephoto lens and we could see it quite a bit. We saw it for a good two hours, once in the morning the first day and mid-morning the second day.”

The deck is about a foot off the ground and is 10 feet wide by 12 feet long. Since it is made of pressure treated wood, it is hoped the deck will be around for at least the next 25 to 30 years.

“A lot the people said they need a place to stand or sit that’s not in the weeds,” Frank said. “Sometimes you might be there awhile waiting to see the eagles, and you need a place to rest. Nobody really knew the location. There were a lot of people asking where the nest is. Now they will know where it is.”

“I’m real proud of it,” added Eric. “I thought it would be a very cool project. Before I started, I didn’t even know there were bald eagles in Michigan. But I did some research and found out they are coming back.

“Now people can come out and use the deck and learn more about the comeback of the eagles. Already, lots of friends and family and community members have come out to look at the deck.”

Fobare, who now belongs to a widow’s group that has organized walks in the park, had walked past the nest at least a half-dozen times before he even knew it was there.

As one might expect, he was thrilled with the result of Eric Niezabytowski’s efforts.

“This is very sentimental for me, but it’s a win-win for everybody because so many people will get to use it,” Fobare said. “It’s a place for me to go and meditate and reflect, and so many more people will get to enjoy the birds in that spot. It’s a really nice place to sit.

“Eric did a great job. He’s a very nice young man. I’m sure he will do well in life,” he added.

This fall, a memorial plaque will be added to the deck in Annette Fobare’s honor. It will read in part: “Annette Fobare received her wings into heaven. May she soar like an eagle.”